This invention relates to a headrest for supporting a person's head.
The use of a headrest permanently affixed to the top of a vehicle seat and perhaps adjustable with respect thereto is known but such headrests are not suitable for some applications. For example, because the headrest is attached to the top of the seat back, it is generally too high to support the head of a child using the seat. Also many headrests in vehicles are not particularly suitable for sleeping or even resting since they are designed simply to provide a head support while the car is being driven. Thus headrests are often provided for a driver's seat but clearly the driver must remain awake and alert at all times.
Sometimes an ordinary pillow is used to support a person's head so that he or she can rest but there are known difficulties associated with the use of soft pillows. Thus there is generally no means for supporting the pillow at an elevated position on the seat back. Furthermore, it is often necessary to position the pillow to one side of the seat back in order that the user's head will be supported both from the rear and from the side while he or she is sleeping. By positioning a pillow in this manner, the position of the person using it is often uncomfortable and its use may result in poor posture.
Various forms of adjustable headrests designed for use in a vehicle have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,488 issued Apr. 19, 1988 to Carol Camelio describes an adjustable headrest which can either be fastened to the back of an automobile seat or used in a folded over position. This headrest has an elongated tab with a fastener to hang the adjustable headrest from the back of the seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,062,586 issued Nov. 6, 1962 to Thomas Rowland describes a combined head and back rest that has a reversible back rest panel and an upward extension on the panel. A flexible attaching member is secured to the upper edge of the extension and a pillow is connected to this member. The pillow may be positioned selectively on opposite sides of the extension.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a headrest of simple construction that can easily be used on most car seats and that provides good support for a person's head.
The present headrest can be attached to a vehicle seat back without damaging the seat back in any way and furthermore the height of the headrest is adjustable in the preferred version thereof.